Game Day Five: Senators at Hurricanes, Feb. 24
By
Daniel Chisholm
Hockey Content and Social Media Specialist
The set-up
A new day, a new test for this young Senators group as they push for a playoff spot. It's been three days since the Senators faced off against the league leading Boston Bruins in Boston. Now they look to take on the second placed Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena.
The Senators come into tonight's game having gone 7-2-1 in their last ten as they make a push for a wild card spot. The race is jam packed with seven teams within nine points of each other for both wild card spots, and the Senators sitting just six points out, with a game in hand on Detroit for the final spot. Needless to be said at this stage of the season, every game matters! Look for the Senators best players to be their best players here tonight. The trio of Tim Stützle, Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk have put up a staggering 21 goals and 21 assists in the last ten games.
Carolina is the second-best team in the NHL for a reason, they give us next to nothing as they put on an assault for 60 minutes every night. Head coach D.J. Smith broke down their style of play detailing "61% of the time they dump the puck in, and they forecheck the entire game. Number one in the NHL at putting the puck in. They're on you the entire night, tireless workers." Led by forwards Martin Necas, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov and defenceman Brent Burns with 51, 50, 49 and 43 points respectively, they boast a top ten offence paired with a top five defence. Not a light task to take down these giants, but one the Senators are up to the call for!
Roster notes
Heading into tonight's game goaltender Cam Talbot and defencemen Jake Sanderson and Nick Holden are all set to rejoin the line-up folloing missed time with various injuries. Following the Senators game against the Boston Bruins, the team reassigned defencemen Jacob Larsson and Dillon Heatherington as well as goaltender Kevin Mandolese to Belleville. Additionally, the team traded defenceman Nikita Zaitsev as well as a 2023 second round pick and a 2026 fourth round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday evening for future considerations. Below is how the Senators lined up at yesterday's practice at PNC Arena:
Forwards:
Tkachuk - Stützle - Giroux
DeBrincat - Pinto - Batherson
Brassard - Greig - Gauthier
Joseph - Gambrell - Watson
Kelly
Defense:
Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - Hamonic
Brannstrom - Holden
Past history
Going back to the Hartford Whalers days, tonight will mark the 111th matchup between these two franchises. Thus far Carolina owns a healthy 59-43 lead with eight ties along the way. However, in recent years this series has been exceptionally even with both sides taking four of the last eight games. Of course, the Senators won two of the three games last season, including their lone trip to PNC Arena in which Josh Norris potted the eventual game winner with just under six minutes to go.
Who to watch
With a game and a few practices under his belt, Julien Gauthier's comfort with the Senators system is growing. With that D.J. Smith is hoping to get him more ice time here tonight as he provides exactly what the team will need to help combat Carolina's style of play. A big body that can skate fast on the wing, Gauthier will get to show his stuff against a Carolina team that dumps the puck in and is relentless on the forecheck. The same team that drafted him back in the first round of the 2016 NHL draft.
Gauthier has six goal and three assists on the season, all during his tenure with the New York Rangers. Look for Gauthier to establish his game, continue to gel with the Senators system and maybe just tally his first points as a Senators here tonight.
Where to watch
Friday's game can be seen live on TSN5 and RDS2. Fans can also tune into the radio call on TSN 1200 and Unique FM 94,5.
